MTA to Provide Normal Service on Monday

January 05th, 2014

All MTA services are expected to operate normally on Monday after crews prepared for, fought, and then dug out from Friday’s winter storm. New York City subways and buses, the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Staten Island Railway will all operate on normal weekday schedules. The MTA’s nine bridges and tunnels will be open and free of snow and ice.

Access-A-Ride services will continue to operate normally. New York City Transit forecasts a normal amount of Access-A-Ride bookings, and will monitor car service performance.

In some instances 40-foot standard buses will replace articulated buses that are longer and have accordion-style bendable joints between the main segment of the bus and a trailing segment.

The MTA reminds customers that the continuing cold conditions can be challenging, as pools of water can freeze into slippery surfaces. Please take extra precaution when traveling with us by stepping carefully on platforms and walkways, and holding handrails on stairways. Bus customers should not run at bus stops and should hold onto handrails when boarding and alighting from buses because bus stops may not be fully cleared of snow and slush.

The MTA’s top priority during the storm was keeping service moving on Friday, even though some services were operating at reduced levels. All services operated on normal weekend schedules on Saturday and Sunday while crews from New York City Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad turned their attention to clearing outdoor train storage yards of snow and ice and making sure that cold weather did not cause problems with switches and electrical components. New York City Transit’s bus division and MTA Bridges and Tunnels continued to sand, salt and plow roadways used by buses and motorists alike.

New York City Transit suspended nearly all weekend track work projects to concentrate resources on snow removal. NYC Transit also temporarily stored subway trains in the express tracks of underground tunnels to allow for snow clearance from storage yards. The subway had a force of 1,000 station personnel fighting drifting snow that had accumulated on station stairwells, a major priority.

“The response from all our personnel has been excellent,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast. “Our ridership was down dramatically on Friday, but I am sure our customers who did have to travel appreciated the continuation of service during the storm. Many more New Yorkers will be glad that service has returned to normal levels for the first weekday after the storm’s conclusion.”